President Donald Trump’s proposed federal budget is expected to cost the Washington, D.C. government approximately $103 million and could cut about 120 public-sector jobs, hindering affordable housing and other social services in the city, District officials said Monday.

According to City Administrator Rashad Young, Trump’s plan to defund agencies such as the Department of Housing and Urban Development — targeted for a 13-percent spending cut — would significantly reduce a large portion of the federal grants that are used in District programs to help the poor.

According to Young’s office, city officials are most concerned about the Interagency Council on Homelessness, the Minority Business Development Agency, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which is a nonprofit funded by the federal government to promote public broadcasting, and the New Starts Program, which provides federal grants for large transit projects.

“As outlined, President Trump’s budget would undermine much of the progress we have made in Washington, D.C., over the past two years,” Young said in a press release Monday. “This proposal would force the city to make some very hard choices in order to keep our commitment to expanding prosperity for all D.C. residents.”

After initial review of the budget, Bowser expressed concerns for the impact this proposal might have on District residents.

“In recent years, Washington, D.C., has seen tremendous growth and today our economy is one of the top-three strongest local economies in the country,” Bowser said in a March 20 press release. “Now, at a time when we are working to ensure that all of D.C.’s residents benefit from our city’s prosperity, we have significant concerns about the President’s initial budget outline.”

Bowser continued by predicting future hardships the city might face under the proposed budget.

“By making cuts to programs that support basic needs like housing and healthcare, this budget will force our city to make tough choices about programs that not only promote growth but enable us to support our most vulnerable residents,” Bowser said.

Members of the Georgetown community also intend to keep track of the budget as it develops, noting how it may impact the university community, according to Georgetown University Media Relations Manager Ryan King.

King said the proposed budget calls for cuts that would impact federal financial aid to students and work study programs, as well as grants for faculty and graduate student research on academic, health and science topics. Additionally, King said nurse training programs and resources for student veterans could be affected.

“Georgetown is concerned about the potential impact of the administration’s proposed budget and continues to monitor the deliberations over it closely,” King wrote in an email to The Hoya.

Bowser indicated her office will look for ways to counter the negative effects of the budget.

“As we continue analyzing the budget and advocating for programs that move our city and country forward, my administration will work with the community and our partners on the Council to promote and defend D.C.’s values,” Bowser said in the press release.

The full budget proposal is expected to be released by Trump and Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney (SFS ’89) in May. The final budget is scheduled to be voted on by Congress in the fall, prior to the start of the next fiscal year October 1.

One Comment

Drain the swamp! This is a great place to start. In this case it is a nation that was being torn asunder by you “progressives” who have been voting for many years to keep your selves in these positions where you can leach off of the productive elements of what really makes up America and that is not centered in the D.C. area.
“Hillary Clinton has won District of Columbia’s 3 electoral votes. Clinton has 270,107 more votes than Donald J. Trump, with 100 percent reporting. Hillary Clinton is up by 87 points with all precincts reporting.”

HRC received 90.9% of the votes of people like you who are only interested in their own narrow agendas and welfare while the Republican, Donald J. Trump, somehow found 12,723 independent thinking people, or 4.1%, of the residence of this swamp, to vote for him.

It is none of your business where I might live. I have only missed voting on one election since voting for Barry Goldwater
in 1964 when the Texan, Lyndon B. Johnson, won by 85.50% compared to Goldwater’s 14.50%. The trend has gone from that percentage in 1964 to what happened in 2016 shows that the vile swamp that you and others of like mind wallow in, and protect at all cost, must be drained. I see that you still live in the DC area & that is fine; but, in typical far left liberal fashion you think that you have the right to tell me where I can live.